This invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of agapanthus, botanically known as Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis, and referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Snowstormxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar was discovered by the inventor in Emerald, Victoria, Australia and resulted from the open pollination of Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis xe2x80x98albusxe2x80x99 in Autumn 1982. The new cultivar was selected from the progeny by the inventor in Emerald, Victoria, Australia with the selection being primarily due to the following criteria: uniform plant height, flower number, size of open flower head, flower color and evergreen characteristics.
Following the open pollination of agapanthus xe2x80x98albusxe2x80x99 (unpatented) referred to above, seed was collected and germinated following typical nursery conditions, and the individual plants planted into assessment beds in the nursery located in Emerald, Victoria, Australia. The plants were assessed in-ground, when they were divided for container-growing trials and uniformity assessment. Using the above selection criteria, asexual propagation of the plant by division was performed vegetatively through many generations.
The new cultivar xe2x80x98Snowstormxe2x80x99 is evergreen, dwarf, white-flowered and heavy flowering, and is primarily distinguished from its seed parent and from other cultivars of the genus such as Agapanthus xe2x80x98Snowdropsxe2x80x99 (unpatented) and Agapanthus xe2x80x98Snowballxe2x80x99 (unpatented), which are the closest comparators known to the inventor, by the high number of florets per inflorescence and by being reliably evergreen. In addition, the new cultivar has dense foliage compared to the medium density foliage of the other agapanthus cultivars, the leaves of the new cultivar being very short and narrow compared with other cultivars.